HB 94 passed the Alaska House State Affairs committee on March 15. It sets up procedures for independent presidential candidates to get on the ballot (Alaska has never had such procedures).

Also, it changes the vote test for a party to remain on the ballot in gubernatorial election years. Currently, in gubernatorial years, the vote test requires that a party poll 3% for Governor. The bill would change this to let a party remain on if it polls 3% for any of these races: governor, US Senate, or US House.

HB 94 also changes the alternate registration test for a party to remain on, from 3% of the last vote cast, to 2% of the total number of registered voters. 3% of the last vote cast is 9,258; 2% of the number of registered voters is 9,479. The Green Party tried very hard to persuade the committee to set the registration test at 1%, not 2%, but did not succeed.

The only minor party that as many as 9,479 registrations is the Alaskan Independence Party, but the Libertarians are working to increase their registration to that level.

On March 14, Maine LD329 passed the Legal & Veterans Affairs Committee unanimously. Since the bill passed unanimously, it is likely to pass on the floors of both houses (in Maine, committees include members of both houses, so the bill has no more committees to pass).

LD329 makes it easier for a party to get and remain on the ballot. Current law says a party can remain on the ballot if it polled 5% for the office at the top of the ticket, in either of the last two elections. The bill keeps that provision in place, but adds an alternative, that the party has registration equal to 1% of the state total. If the party attains or keeps that registration, it need not worry about meeting the vote test.

On March 9, HB 1567 was introduced in Florida. It makes the procedures for minor party presidential candidates more specific than they were in 2004, but doesn’t make them any more difficult. Old law, which is very lenient, says any qualified party can put a presidential nominee on the November ballot if it submits a list of presidential elector candidates (all of whom must be registered voters in the party), and if it holds a national convention, and if it is a “national political party.”

The only changes made by HB 1567, relating to presidential elections, are to define two terms, “national political party” and “national convention.” “National political party” is a party that is on the ballot in at least one state other than Florida. “National convention” is “any caucus, convention, meeting or any other assembly of a political party gathered, whether or not such meeting is held in person or by telephonic or electronic means, with the intent of nominating candidates for President and Vice President of the U.S.”